Brazil presidential candidate dies in plane crash

Associated Press

Published 6:12 pm, Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Photo: Ricardo Nogueira, AFP/Getty Images

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Rescuers work on the site of the crash of the Cessna 560XL aircraft carrying the presidential candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) party Eduardo Campos in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on August 13, 2014. The plane failed to land and crashed into a gymnasium and two homes and several people died in the accident, including all its passengers. AFP PHOTO/Ricardo NogueiraRICARDO NOGUEIRA/AFP/Getty Images less

Rescuers work on the site of the crash of the Cessna 560XL aircraft carrying the presidential candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) party Eduardo Campos in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on August ... more

Photo: Ricardo Nogueira, AFP/Getty Images

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(FILE) Picture taken on April 14, 2013 showing then Pernambuco state governor Eduardo Campos, candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) for next October's presidential election, during the inauguration ceremony of Arena Pernambuco, in Recife, north Brazil. Campos died on August 13, 2014 when the aircraft he was travelling in crashed in the southeastern city of Santos. AFP PHOTO / YASUYOSHI CHIBAYASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images less

(FILE) Picture taken on April 14, 2013 showing then Pernambuco state governor Eduardo Campos, candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) for next October's presidential election, during the inauguration ... more

Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP/Getty Images

Brazil presidential candidate dies in plane crash

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SAO PAULO -- Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos died Wednesday when the small plane that was carrying him and several campaign officials plunged into a residential neighborhood in the port city of Santos.

In a solemn address, President Dilma Rousseff declared three days of official mourning in honor of Campos and said she would suspend her campaign during that time.

"Today, Brazil is in mourning and reeling from a death that took the life of a promising young politician," she said, adding that Campos had been facing "an extremely promising future."

Campos, the scion of a political family from the northeastern state of Pernambuco, had been an ally of Rousseff's but broke away ahead of the campaign for the Oct. 4 presidential election.

Polling in 3rd place

Polls suggested he was running in third place, far behind Rousseff and another political rival. But his Brazilian Socialist Party ticket was widely regarded as among the best placed to challenge Rousseff and her Workers Party, thanks largely to his popular running mate, former Environment Minister Marina Silva, who joined Campos' ticket after her attempt to run for president herself failed.

It was not immediately clear whether Silva would assume Campos' spot as the party's presidential candidate. Under Brazilian law, in the event of a candidate's death, a party has 10 days to decide on a substitute.

A visibly shaken Silva spoke to reporters in Santos, reading a prepared statement in which she concentrated on her relationship with Campos and gave her political future a wide berth.

"During these 10 months of partnership, I learned to respect him, admire him and feel confidence in his attitudes and his ideals in life," Silva said in a soft, wavering voice. She did not take questions.

Pundits were already predicting that Campos' death could complicate the presidential race for Rousseff.

Brazilian television broadcast a continuous loop of images of the wreckage. Brazil's top broadcaster, Globo, ran interviews with eyewitnesses who reported the plane was already ablaze before the crash around 10 a.m.

Bad-weather landing

Aeronautical authorities said the Cessna 560XL was attempting to land in bad weather.

Sao Paulo state security officials said it appeared there were no on-ground deaths. The newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported five people on the ground were injured.

The plane took off from Rio de Janeiro, where Campos appeared in a television interview Tuesday, and was headed to the city of Guaruja, where he was to participate in a conference about Brazil's ports.

The country's top politicians expressed shock and sorrow over the accident, with Vice President Michel Temer calling it a "tragedy for Brazilian politics."

"Eduardo Campos was a politician of principles and values," Temer wrote on his website. "Along with the entire country, I am shocked by this accident and by the loss for friends and family."

Campos, 49, was married and the father of five children, the youngest of whom was born in January. The heir of a political dynasty that stretched back to his grandfather, he served two terms as governor of Pernambuco state.

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